Toyota Global Hybrid Sales Hit 3 Million Mark
By Scott Doggett March 8, 2011
Fourteen years after launching its first hybrid models, Toyota Motor Corp. announced today that global cumulative sales of its dual-fuel vehicles have topped the 3-million mark, with more than 3.03 million of them sold worldwide as of Feb. 28.
Of the 3.03 million hybrids sold, more than 2.18 million were Toyota's dedicated hybrid passenger vehicle, the Prius. It was one of two hybrid models the Japanese automaker launched in Japan in 1997, the first being the Coaster Hybrid minibus.
That model went on sale domestically in August followed by the Prius - the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle - in December. Sales of the Prius expanded to North America, Europe and elsewhere in 2000.
It took 10 years and five months for the Prius to hit the 1-million-sold mark, which occurred in May 2008. But it only took 28 months for Toyota to sell the next million Priuses, a milestone reached in September 2010.
As for cumulative hybrid sales for Toyota, they shape up this way: 500,000 sold by October 2005; 1 million sold by May 2007; 2 million sold by August 2009; and 3 million sold by February 2011.
Encouraged by the increasing popularity of the Prius and prodded by consumers and governments to increase the fuel efficiency of its lineup, in recent years the manufacturer come out with more hybrids. Among them: The Toyota Camry Hybrid and Highlander Hybrid and five hybrid models currently available from Toyota's Lexus brand.
In all, Toyota now sells 16 hybrid vehicle models in approximately 80 countries and regions around the world, including three commercial vehicle models in Japan. The company plans to introduce 10 new-model hybrid vehicles by the end of 2012.
Whether Toyota, which outsells all other automakers in the hybrid segment, can remain on top is, for now, a matter of opinion. But none of the analysts we spoke with today saw Toyota being dethroned anytime soon.
Michael Robinet, director at IHS Automotive in Northville, Michigan, believes that for the foreseeable future, there's no doubt that Toyota will have a strong portfolio of hybrid vehicles.
"But what I would say is that a number of other manufacturers are close on their heals - not necessarily in terms of volume but certainly in terms of the breadth of product that they're offering," he said. "Virtually every manufacturer now has to be a player in some way shape or form in this arena."
Jessica Caldwell, director of pricing & industry analysis at Edmunds.com, said she believes it is feasible that Toyota could double the number of its hybrids sold to 6 million in seven years - or half the time it took to hit the 3-million mark.
"It's a huge milestone that, interestingly enough, has come when gas and oil prices have become headline news around the world," Caldwell said. "As we emerge from the economic downturn, fuel prices will continue to be buoyant, which gives vehicles like the Prius an added positive selling point so we expect to see continued success."
Driving Toyota's future hybrid success won't simply be the automaker's knowledge in hybrid powertrains, Robinet said, but also its knowledge of the hybrid consumer.
"They've been selling vehicles to these people for 14 years now, so they understand what those consumers are looking for and certainly what the key selling propositions are for these people," he said.
But Toyota won't have an easy go of it, he added, not with virtually every major automaker coming out with hybrids of their own. Among the major challengers he mentioned are the Chevy Volt and a slew of hybrid variants of popular Ford nameplates.
For its part, Toyota said in a statement today that it is committed to augmenting its hybrid lineup even further and increasing the number of countries and regions in which it sells hybrid vehicles.
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